What is Ocean Acidification?, What are the Causes and Environmental Influences? Ocean acidification is, simply put, the change of the pH balance of the waters in our oceans. The pH levels of the ocean’s waters drop and this is because the water absorbs what is called anthropogenic carbon dioxide from … Read more
Permaculture, a term created by David Holmgren and Bill Mollison in 1970, is defined as a “consciously designed landscapes which mimic the patterns and relationships found in nature, while yielding an abundance of food, fiber and energy for provision of local needs. People, their buildings and the ways in which … Read more
Caring for the environment is a good cause, especially considering its present state. Anyone can start from simple things at home like; sorting rubbish for recycling, turning off electrical appliances, conserving water, and using chemical-free cleaning fluids. However noble these simple practices are, there is still a need for actions … Read more
You might think that stopping climate change is not a one man job and you are right, it isn’t. But this does not mean that your efforts are utterly useless. How to stop global warming? One of the first steps you can take is becoming a little more self sustainable. … Read more
You’ve probably heard the word before, ‘deciduous’ but forgot it’s meaning. The definition of deciduous when it comes to trees is, ‘one that sheds it’s leaves annually’ or ‘tending to fall off’. In contrast to the evergreen, that keeps it’s green needles throughout the year, a deciduous tree goes through … Read more
All the energy that most people enjoy so freely is derived at some point from natural resources. Water specifically is one resource that is used to generate electricity. There are two established ways to make hydroelectricity; via a water powered turbine (what the water wheel was to kinetic energy the … Read more
Mineral waters, like the name suggests is a potable water that has a high mineral that has either added or is naturally occurring. The specific classification of “mineral water” is water having 250 or more ppm (parts per million) of mineral content. The specific mineral deposits will range, some of … Read more
Green fuel technologies are developing world wide to alleviate dependance on fossil fuels. What is green fuel and what does it mean to a society that relies on fossil fuels? Green fuel is a general term, referring to “environmentally friendly” alternative fuels, specifically biofuels derived from organic materials that can … Read more
The International Ecotourism Society, also known as TIES, defines ecotourism as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people.” South Africa is still a developing country and many still live under the internationally established line of poverty. It is a country that … Read more
Oil, a natural resource, becomes unnatural when it leaves the depths of the Earth and into the living surface for industrial purpose. The most obvious and devastating depiction of this is an oil spill in the ocean, however large commercial pipelines can break anywhere, destructing everything in its path. Why … Read more
Nowadays we face many problems in trying to develop sustainable technologies. This has led to the field of biomimicry, where we learn from systems that have evolved to suit perfectly their environments. Biomimicry is basically biologically inspired engineering. Below you will see just a few examples of Biomimicry including Velcro, … Read more
Sustainable fishing is the only method of harvesting protein rich aquatic creatures. Other fishing methods put our oceans and health at risk. There are two main factors that affect our ability to sustain oceanic fish populations: a) the health of the population, thus the rate at which they can renew … Read more
Harvesting energy from the tides is a surprisingly old method; the technology has improved and changed through time but the general concept of using the waxing and waning of the moon and the correlating tides has remained constant. Europe during the early Middle Ages is the one of the first … Read more
Chances are you are reading this article in the built environment. Your house, an office, maybe at the mall (although doubtfully InnoD readers are mall rats!) So, what is the built environment? It refers to all the man-made places, built up around us by our own society- a term that … Read more
Canning food is a reliable form of food preservation. By taking the bounty of the fat times, the summer months and converting them into jellies, pickles, sauces, stocks and other products, you can store up a reserve of food for the lean times, winter months when few, if any, crops … Read more